Factionalism and Local Level Politics in Rural Brazil

Abstract

Local factional strife has been interpreted as emanating from the strains of modernization as the new society struggles to throw off the bonds of the old. My findings show, on the contrary, that factionalism does not promote change but helps preserve the status quo. This paper sketches an outline of local level factional politics in rural Brazil and then presents a more detailed case study as an illustration. The trajectory of growth of rural settlements leads from a tiny shop in a farmhouse through the status of village and finally county seat. The conditions favoring the growth of settlements are discussed with special emphasis on the role of an entrepreneaur combining commercial, political, and official roles. Factions emerge with the creation of independent municipios, and they become the source of divisions making possible the future fissioning of municipios. Factionalism and the fissioning of counties constitute an adaptive process enabling the expansion of rural stratification structures to k...